Robson Aguiar [right]: says he is open to business to outside owners after Kia Joorabchian [left] removed over 10 horses from his stable | Tattersalls
By Brian Sheerin
Robson Aguiar has vowed to bounce back better than ever without the full support of Amo Racing after Kia Joorabchian dropped a bombshell on the Brazilian native by removing at least 10 horses from his long-time ally’s stable this week.
Aguiar has been a part of the Amo Racing team from the very beginning and, in his role as assistant trainer to Adrian Murray, was instrumental in providing Joorabchian with a breakthrough Group 1 success when Bucanero Fuerte stormed to Phoenix Stakes glory at the Curragh in 2023.
Further big-race riches were recorded through G1 Flying Five Stakes winner Arizona Blaze and last year’s G1 Phoenix Stakes winner Power Blue, who remains in training with the County Westmeath-based handler.
However, Aguiar, whose first winner as a fully fledged handler came courtesy of the Amo Racing-owned Bryant at Dundalk in November, is said to have been informed by text on Sunday that the majority of the horses that are exclusively owned by Joorabchian’s operation would be moving elsewhere.
Commenting on Monday evening, Aguiar said, “Bull Shark, Ocean Club and Blixen Force are going to California, where they should win plenty of races, and What A Girl Wants, Force Noir and Blanc De Blanc are some of the horses who will go to Freemason Lodge [to be trained by Kevin Philippart De Foy]. We still have horses that Amo owns in partnerships but, the majority of the horses that they own one hundred per cent, they have been moved.”
He added, “We have had some great days with Amo Racing and I wish Kia the best at Royal Ascot and for the future. Some of our best horses are still here, though. We have Edward Thatch, Immortal Guard and Power Blue is still here as well. There are also a number of very good unraced fillies that we are looking forward to running.”
TDN Europe understands that Aguiar was informed of the decision by Joorabchian on Sunday shortly after the trainer enjoyed a one-two in the five-furlong conditions race at Naas, where Your Song, owned in partnership with Kerri Radcliffe and Arthur Hoyeau, chinned the seemingly better-fancied and Amo Racing-owned What A Girl Wants.
While Aguiar acknowledges there were great days shared with the Amo Racing team, he said he is keen to look to the future and is concentrating fully on filling the empty stables left behind by the horses that have been taken away.
Aguiar concluded, “When Power Blue and Bucanero Fuerte won on the same day at the Curragh last year, that was a very good day. We won three Group 1s together. But now I am hungry for more Group 1s. We have some very good owners in the yard and I try to be competitive at a high level and I work hard for everything I have. I will work hard at the yearling sales in the autumn to hunt down top-class horses and to fill those stables as we want to grow bigger and be better all the time. We will be fine.”
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